Oskaloosa Girls Track Members Competed At Drake Relays

Oskaloosa Girls Drake Qualifers – Faith DeRonde, Savannah Wiltse, Emma Kelderman, Jordan Czerwinski, Brooke Allen, Sophia Dykstra (submitted photo)

by Coach Betsy Luck

The Drake Relays had its ups and down for the Osky girls team. Sophia Dykstra came home with Drake hardware with her 6th place finish in the discus with a toss of 132-3, Faith DeRonde finished 9th with 128-7. (note they were the only Freshman and Sophomores in the finals).

Emma Kelderman had a gutsy run in unfavorable conditions on Saturday afternoon in the 400 hurdles. She was in contention to set a new personal record and finish in the top 3, unfortunately, she clipped the 10th hurdle and went to the track. She got up and finished the race finishing 15th overall.

Emma also finished 19th in the high jump with a leap of 5-0.

The 4×100 of Brooke Allen, Savannah Wiltse, Jordan Czerwinski, and Emma Kelderman finished 79th in the field of 96 with a time of 52.99.

Put it into perspective, there are over 367 school districts in the state of Iowa. And the Drake Relays only qualifies the top 24 individuals in the state or even less in some events. Just to qualify is an honor in itself.

I explained it to the girls this way. Drake Relays are the fancy sprinkles on top of a beautifully frosted and baked cake that they have created with all of the hard work that they have put in so far this season.

All of the coaches are so proud of all of the work that these young ladies have done and are looking forward to what they will do when they return to the Blue Oval in 3 weeks for the State Track & Field meet.